Hello all,
So I'm about to go out of town, right as the thermometer toys with hitting triple-digits. To make a long story short, I have to leave my pool in the hands of someone who has little pool care experience. I use and love the TF-100, but I find the colorimetric pH and TC to require a best-guess, and the rest of the kit can be a little intimidating at first glance. As I stocked up on chlorine at Lowe's, I happened to spy a strip-based test kit made by Clorox that lets you scan the strip with your phone, which then displays digital results for TH, FC, TC, pH, TA, and CYA. I figured if it was at least close it would be way easier for my friend, so I took the $12 gamble. It was super easy, and the results were easy to read, but I probably should have spent my $12 at the hotdog stand on the way out of the store because I'm disappointed (though I probably should have expected to be) and I'm hungry. I'll let you judge the results for yourself in case it saves you from succumbing to the temptation to waste your money on a quest for quick-and-easy test results. All results were in sunlight, per instructions:
So I'm about to go out of town, right as the thermometer toys with hitting triple-digits. To make a long story short, I have to leave my pool in the hands of someone who has little pool care experience. I use and love the TF-100, but I find the colorimetric pH and TC to require a best-guess, and the rest of the kit can be a little intimidating at first glance. As I stocked up on chlorine at Lowe's, I happened to spy a strip-based test kit made by Clorox that lets you scan the strip with your phone, which then displays digital results for TH, FC, TC, pH, TA, and CYA. I figured if it was at least close it would be way easier for my friend, so I took the $12 gamble. It was super easy, and the results were easy to read, but I probably should have spent my $12 at the hotdog stand on the way out of the store because I'm disappointed (though I probably should have expected to be) and I'm hungry. I'll let you judge the results for yourself in case it saves you from succumbing to the temptation to waste your money on a quest for quick-and-easy test results. All results were in sunlight, per instructions:
| TF-100 | Clorox strip, scanned immediately after dipping (per instructions in app) | Second Clorox strip, scanned immediately after dipping | Third Clorox strip, scanned after 15 seconds | Fourth Clorox strip, scanned after 15 seconds | Fifth Clorox strip, scanned after 30 seconds | |
| FC | 5.5 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 5 |
| TC | 5.5 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
| TH | 250 | 250 | 250 | 250 | 250 | 500 |
| pH | 7.6 | 6.8 | 7.8 | 7.8 | 6.8 | 6.8 |
| TA | 80 | 40 | 120 | 120 | 120 | 120 |
| CYA | 40 | 0 | 50 | 50 | 0 | 50 |
Just too many variables like how to hold it going into the water, when it comes out of the water, how long to let the water sit on it before checking the colors, etc.
